Babel Heads 2014 Belle Of The Turf Stakes Nominations

This Friday Gosford Cup Day is set to run on the Central Coast with the day’s sole Group race being the Belle Of The Turf Stakes 2014 where the Peter Snowden-trained Babel is the top rated nominee.

Babel will have to carry a big 59kg weight if accepted for Friday's Belle Of The Turf Stakes 2014. Photo: Steve Hart.

A total of 15 fillies and mares have nominated for this year’s edition of the $125,000 Group 3 Belle Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) including the 59kg top weight Babel.

A winner of five of their 25 career starts to date the five-year-old Lonhro mare comes off a close third in a Benchmark 95 over 1400m at Rosehill from January 4.

They’ll be on the short back-up then if accepted for Friday’s meet, and will also be carrying a weight they haven’t seen since they carted 59.5kg to victory at Bendigo back in July of 2012.

While they handled the weight there they’ve had between 54 and 56kg in all their runs since including 54.5kg last start.

Following Babel in the Belle Of The Turf nominations and weights with 58.5kg are then the John Sargent-trained defending champ Cathay Lady who ran third in the Goulburn Cup two back and Chris Waller’s Flying Spur six-year-old Madam Nash.

Like a number of the nominees Madam Nash comes off a run in the December Handicap (1550m) at Canterbury from December 28 having run a brave fourth behind Messene in the off season feature.

Waller has also nominated for his last start winner Acapela, the Elusive City mare having won the Drummond Golf Handicap over the Randwick mile on Boxing Day, who will again be ridden by Brenton Avdulla.

“Brenton Avdulla has a good association with Acapela and he will stick with her in the Belle Of The Turf and Glyn Schofield is booked for Madam Nash,” Waller told AAP this week.

There are then two other last start winners in the mix with the in-form Two Blue from Wyong coming off a Rosehill 1500m victory from last Saturday and one of Snowden’s other nominees Pleiades who scored in Sydney on Boxing Day.

Along with Babel and Pleiades the other Snowden-trained chance is then La Pieta who finished a close third in the Drummond Golf behind Acapela last start.